New Home Cost Estimator

Well you’ve come to the right place. We're a very experienced home builder. We’ll be happy to guide you through the process of home construction from lot selection and home design, to handing you the keys to your new home and providing you with all the information you’ll need to maintain your new home and appliances.

If you don't mind, could you offer a few details on what you did and did not like about your previous experience? We strive to provide you with the best service and this information would really help!

That’s wonderful. It sounds like you’re well on your way already. Can you please let us know the address so we can begin our research on the feasibility of your project?

Thanks for letting us know. It’s helpful to know that we won’t need to consider the cost of demolishing an existing structure in the construction estimate.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll be sure to consider the cost of demolishing the existing structure in the construction estimate.

That's okay. No problem. We’re early in the process and we can connect with your realtor at a later point.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll be happy to connect you through a virtual meeting. We’ll be sure to inform our realtor of the requirements for your home to assist in the search.

Okay. One thing that we suggest that you keep in mind is that it is generally premature to begin design of a new home without having a plot of land secured. There are generally grading, neighbour proximity, and utility servicing considerations to be factored into the plans which are influenced by the land.

To start off, perhaps you can tell me a bit about the home you would like to build.

Thank you so much. This will really help in speeding along the estimating process. There are plenty of documents that will be required for construction and for accurate estimating. Just let us know which one(s) you don’t have yet and we will be happy to provide assistance in acquiring them. Documents that we’ll need include those in the next step.

You'll have the opportunity to upload photos and files at the final step.

Okay. No problem for now. I understand that you may have invested quite a lot into these plans and you are hesitant to share them. We’ll be limited to estimating only at a high-level, based on the square feet of construction, but we can use what we have for now. We will require all of the plan documents when it comes time to providing a detailed estimate in writing.

No problem at all. It’s actually great that you’ve reached out to us in advance of having confirmed your designer. As a home builder, we are considered the experts in construction budgeting.

That’s alright. We’re early in the process and can speak with them later.

Thank you very much. We’re off to a great start already.

It's an advantage to have a home builder work with the designer during the design process, as this helps to create plans that fit within budget parameters.

We collaborate closely with architectural design firms, so I can arrange a meeting to introduce you and learn more about your dream home and budget. This will enable us to pair you with the ideal designer.

That’s great. It sounds like you’ve put some serious thought into your new home.

That’s completely normal. Many people who reach out to us are not as familiar with square feet house sizes as we are.

Why don’t we start by working our way through a short list which will help us estimate what may be an appropriate size of house for you based on the number and types of rooms above ground you would like to have?

That's great. Thanks for all that information. Based on the number of rooms and their approximate sizes, it looks like the above-ground living space of your home will need to be approximately:

Okay. We’ll just leave it out for the time being.

Okay. We’ll just be sure to account for the insulating of the basement foundation walls, also known as frost walls.

No problem. Let’s just go through the same exercise as before to determine what should be an appropriate amount of finished space.

Hmmm... It looks like the amount of finished space in the basement is likely to be more than will be available based on the size of the foundation. We may need to reduce the number of rooms or condense the size of the rooms in the basement.

This can be ironed out in the design phase, but now we have a rough idea of what you would like to build.

It seems like you're planning to finish a larger basement area than you have available.

Please revisit the previous step and reduce the size

That's great! Any images you can send us will be helpful in painting a clearer picture of what you would like your home to look like. This not only speeds up the design process, but makes for more efficient estimating as well.

Identifying specifically what you like and dislike in any images provided will also make sure that we, and our designer won’t accidentally include something you want to avoid.

You'll have the opportunity to upload photos and files at the final step.

No problem. Our designer will guide you through their standard design process. However, any images you provide will give us additional insight and can not only speed up the design process, but can make for a more efficient estimating process as well.

Identifying specifically what you like and dislike in any images you can provide will also help us and our designer to avoid accidentally accounting for features you want to avoid.

The next step in our process is to work towards establishing the project budget. To do this, it is important that we use the same terminology and establish that costs are generally discussed excluding HST.

It is also important to determine if your budget is inclusive of pre-construction costs. These are costs incurred during the planning and permit application stages, which are generally excluded from the construction costs.

One of the most significant of these costs is based on the type of designer creating the plans. Designers generally fall into one of two professions: Architect and Architectural Technologist.

To determine which is the best fit for you, it is worth considering the following:

• The clarity of your vision including floor plans, key architectural elements and style;
• The impact of function, flow and design cohesiveness starting with the extremities of your property all the way to the intricacies of interior design;
• Budget;
• Design duration.

However, design professionals differ from one to the next and we cannot paint all with the same brush. For example, Architects and Architectural Technologists may each limit their services to strictly architectural elements, while others can provide exceptional interior designer services as well.

Sunter Homes has been working with a network of talented designers for over a decade and is well suited to provide recommendations as to which designers may be best suited to you and your project.

The distinctions between the two professions can generally be described in the following manner:

Architectural Technologists are trained primarily in the preparation of construction drawings. They have some design training, however the primary focus of their schooling is on construction materials and assembly, building codes, architectural design software and the preparation of permit application plans among other things. Depending on availability, Architectural Technologists will generally require 2 to 3 months to create a set of permit plans for a custom home. The cost of their services will generally be in the range of $3.00 to $5.00 per square foot of the design with many homes falling in the $5,000 to $10,000 range.

Architects are trained to consider, in addition to the areas of study of architectural technologists, all aspects of a building: How it will suit the owner’s lifestyle, how it ties to the surrounding land, climate impacts for solar gain and comfort, the house’s geographic orientation, interior flow and furniture placement, and many other factors. Depending on availability, Architects will generally require 4 to 6 months to create a set of permit plans for a custom home. The cost of their services will generally be in the range of $35,000 to $70,000, but can be significantly more for large and complex projects.

Generally, budget is often the key influence in determining which design professional is selected. Design duration is often less of an influence for custom homes because it is always worthwhile to take time to properly plan such important projects.

One of the most important considerations when deciding on your design professional is to understand how clear your vision is of what you would like to build. If you haven’t the foggiest idea, an Architect may be the designer for you.

Otherwise, an Architectural Technologist paired with an Interior Designer may be the most cost effective solution for you. Both Architects and Architectural Technologists design beautiful and functional homes and Sunter Homes is here to guide you through the process from conception all the way to placing your new home's keys in your hand.

Okay. That sounds good. We'll assume an Architect for now.

While it is not a hard rule that you need to work with an interior designer if your home is to be designed by an Architectural Technologist as opposed to an architect, it is very highly recommended. The selection of the many interior finishes in your home can be an overwhelming task fraught with indecision between homeowners. The cost of an interior designer’s services often works out to be approximately 1% of the cost of construction, although this is not a rule.

Interior Designers specialize in recommending tasteful products that are likely to be to your liking based on their review of you preferences. When there is more than one homeowner, Interior Designers can be most helpful when it comes to sourcing product combinations which are to everyone’s liking.

When we create our detailed estimate for our project, we include finish product material allowances consistent with the expectations set by the interior designer we are working with. This allows you to take your time in confirming your product selections knowing that the estimate finish material allowances are realistic.

Okay. We'll assume for the time being that we’ll be using an interior designer.

Okay. We'll assume for the time being that you’ll be confirming all interior material selections.

That's alright. Let's just assume for the time being that we’ll be using an interior designer unless you inform us otherwise. We really do believe that a good interior designer is worth every penny.

One more significant consideration in determining pre-construction costs is the City lot development fee which is based on the location of your home as well as if you will be increasing the number of dwellings on the property.

You've selected 'Rural Ottawa - Serviced', this means you will not need Well & Septic systems installed. You will be able to select 'City Services' in a later step.

You've selected 'Rural Ottawa - Unserviced', this means you will need Well & Septic systems installed. You'll be able to select this in a later step.

Okay. Municipalities outside of Ottawa generally have fees which are a fraction of what they are within Ottawa. We’ll account for $10,000 as a placeholder for the time being.

That’s alright. We’ll just account for outside the Ottawa Greenbelt for the time being.

Cost per square foot pricing is a widely practiced method in our industry to estimate budget at a high level. It is not a highly accurate form of estimating, but it is sufficient to get us in the right general ballpark so we can have an idea of what is possible within your budget.

Essentially the practice involves averaging every expense in the construction of your home into a single square foot cost. This means that each square foot contains a bit of excavation, foundation, backfill, framing, roofing, drywall, cabinetry, you name it.

There are limitations to this method in that large open spaces can appear to be more costly than they will be in reality due to the simplicity of their construction. However this is generally balanced across most homes by the more expensive areas such as kitchens, bathrooms, stairs, etc..

Given current market trends for material costs and labour rates, the cost per square foot of building a home can vary significantly depending on many factors. Construction projects which exceed minimum building code requirements and include some luxurious embellishments can increase rapidly in cost by 15% to 20% over what many would consider to be a “base model” home. Minimizing foundation footprint and building multiple stories helps reduce construction cost comparatively over a bungalow.

When building semi-detached homes, triplexes and larger multi-unit buildings, the cost per square foot can often result in 20% and higher savings in construction costs over a home with a single dwelling due to the sharing of common elements and the economy of scale.

Some areas of a home warrant different costs per square foot due to their large, open expanses. These include basements and garages. The finishing of a basement often costs around 30% as much as the rest of a home, and the construction of a garage around 45% of the rest of a home.

Similarly, the cost for basements can vary significantly based on whether they are finished or not. It's important to keep this in mind as you plan and budget for your new luxury home. Our team of experts can provide guidance on these and other cost considerations to help you create the high-end home of your dreams.

Now that we both have equal understanding as to how your home may be estimated at a high level using cost per square foot pricing, the next step is to discuss project feasibility.

Generally, an effective way to determine project feasibility is to begin with your total budget, inclusive of HST and pre-construction costs, and work backwards from there to determine how much budget remains for actual construction costs determining what we will be able to build. With Sunter Homes’ collaboration with our designer, the home will be designed to be built within budgetary limits.

It’s very important that we are all open and honest with the budget as the financial parameters that you, the designer and our entire team will be working within are critical in allowing our team to best advise you.

There will be significant time and resources invested by you and all parties involved during the planning and estimating phase in an effort design a home that can be built within your budget. Understanding the budget will also reduce the design timeline and the chance of delayed start of construction.

Some of the other factors most heavily influenced by budget include:

The designer best suited to you and your project; Size of your home; Sub-trades included in the bidding process; Material recommendations by the designer and Sunter Homes; Structural construction assembly; Energy efficiency design; and interior and exterior aesthetics.

Now, while our estimate of construction costs will already include a built in, industry standard 10% contingency allowance to accomplish the estimated scope of work, we generally recommend that the homeowner set aside roughly an additional 10% of the estimate amount to account for any changes to the scope of work.

Changes in the scope of work are not always because an owner would like to “upgrade” a product, but sometimes due to necessity should a desired product no longer be available, or if the structural engineer determines that an adjustment needs to be made to the plans.

A few other examples of changes could include, but are not limited to, altering product selections due to the owner changing their mind, and encountering unexpected obstacles underground during excavation which may require a change in the scope to the excavation or backfill work.

So, if the estimated cost of building a home was $1,000,000 + HST, this would translate to approximately $909,000 with a recommended $91,000 built in contingency allowance to accomplish the designed scope of work, and we would recommend that you have access to approximately an additional $100,000 + HST to allow for flexibility to the scope of work.

And because our projects are based on a cost-plus construction contract, you only pay for the service delivery and keep any un-used contingency allowance.

Now's the time to let us know your total budget. You should include all HST and Pre-construction costs within this number.

New home construction cost is a minimum of $750,000.

Okay! Thank you very much for that information. Now we’re ready to review another short list of questions that will enable us to determine what cost per square foot we should apply towards the cost of your home which we can apply towards the number of square feet we determined earlier.

In the event that the cost per square foot results in our recommended budget for your home exceeding what you had in mind, together we can play around with your answers to see what changes we might need to make. Once we’ve completed this process we’ll have some great early information to provide to our designer.

Okay. That's alright. What we can do is review another short list of questions that will enable us to determine what cost per square foot we sold apply towards the cost of your home which we can apply towards the number of square feet we determined earlier.

In the event that the cost per square foot results in our recommended budget for your home exceeding what you had in mind, together we can play around with your answers to see what changes we might need to make. Once we’ve completed this process we’ll have some great early information to provide to our designer.

You have selected a 'Rural - Serviced' lot location, this means you won't need a Well & Septic installed. Please choose City Services.

Thank you very much for going through those questions with me. Based on your answers, we recommend the following estimated costs per square foot:

If we multiply these costs per square foot by the number of square feet in your house, we get the following results:

This value reflects the estimated cost of building a custom home. Please call or contact us to discuss additions or renovation projects.

This lower estimated total cost includes your selections for the Elevator, Soil Condition, Lot Condition and distance to the property line. Adjusting these could further reduce the cost. Contact us for an in-depth, detailed estimate and timeline.

This lower estimated total cost includes your selections for the Elevator. Adjusting this could further reduce the cost. Contact us for an in-depth, detailed estimate and timeline.

We noticed that your current home rough estimate is over your budget. Fortunately you have the ability to modify your selections, some of which can dramatically affect the pre-construction and construction costs of your home.

In addition to the size of your home, some of these include neighbourhood, proximity to property line, number of floor levels, interior finishes and energy efficiency. Bungalows are the most expensive type of home.

We invite you to review your selections to find the right balance of features and budget. The effort you invest now can help fast track the upcoming early home design and construction financing conversations. We’re available to provide guidance and recommendations tailored to your specific needs.

Feel free to select a date to speak with us for guidance and next steps. We’re happy to hold your hand and guide you through the process of building your home!

Congratulations! Your new home estimate is within your budget. We're excited to see that you've found a design and configuration that aligns with your financial goals.

Feel free to confirm a date below to learn more about the next steps. We're here to help make your dream home a reality!

If you're an installer or supplier looking to work with Sunter Homes, please contact us via [email protected] or call at (613) 702-4496

Would you like to set a date to speak with one of our experts?